Texas Runners Take A Stand Against Hit And Runs

There have been 100 accidents involving cars and either pedestrians or cyclists in the last year in and around Corpus Christi.

A group of runners and cyclists in Corpus Christi, Texas are taking action on what they say is a growing problem on their roads: Hit and runs.

Cecil Johnson, a runner, organized a gathering via Facebook and invited a news crew from KIII TV to join the fed-up athletes.

“I just had enough. I’ve seen this happen enough,” Johnson told the news station. “We’ve had the gentleman whose a lawyer that was hit, and the woman, she turns herself in 30 days later. The young lady that was hit, and she was in the hospital in San Antonio for months.

“Because people are not paying attention. Or they get distracted, or they’re texting, or Facebooking, or they’re smoking or drinking or whatever the case may be, and I was like, ‘That’s enough.’”

The most recent occurrence was last weekend, when runner Josh Newton struck by a vehicle. The driver did not stop.

Corpus Christi Police Chief Floyd Simpson said the problem lies solely with the people behind the wheel.

“What we’re looking at is a driver distraction issue,” he said. “A ‘me me me’ attitude in that, ‘I’m the only person on the road, and where I have to go is the only thing that matters.’”

Simpson’s officers have been writing upwards of 1,000 tickets a month to speeding drivers since last year, a period in which there were more than 1,000 hit and run accidents. One hundred of those involved pedestrians and cyclists. Four of the 14 fatal accidents involved pedestrians.

“We’re imploring, we’re begging the public to slow down,” Simpson said. “All of these are preventable.”

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